[QUOTE=impetus maximus;6009160]i would stay away from Optima. me and a buddy got one for his Cutlass.
it was a dud. exchanged it for another dud. they are crap IMHO.
Interstate batteries have been good to me since 92.

Interstate makes Optima batteries?

 

[QUOTE=ClownPuncher;6011517]Johnson Controls makes both.




Replaced my dead OEM in my 03 with a Red Top Optima, it has been great.




I think some people might be having issues when they run too low because they are trying to charge them with a 'normal' trickle charger.

Not all chargers work on Optima AGMs.

 

Any thoughts on the Sears Diehard platinum?

 

I think it is an Enersys.
I think they make the Odyssey too.

 

What does it compare to (Red Top etc)? is it a good battery for a basically stock GT/CS?

 

Any quality brand with with @ 600CCA minimum will be "good enough".
The real question here is what will really last longest and withstand the "phantom Mustang current" draw best.
The Optima is a different type of battery which is really designed for applications involving extreme inclines and forces greater than "I can't believe you went around the cloverleaf that fast Karman".

 

I have been fighting a low battery on my car an my Dad's Sky. Both cars sit all winter, and had dead batteries when I went to start them over the weekend.

2005 Mustang GT here (with Shaker 1000, this is important).

The stock battery for GT's is different depending on options. The "High Capacity" one is: YN BXT- 40R

My battery would not charge, until I added water to it. The charger kept kicking off, and indicating a bad battery. We will see if I end up having issues over the summer. This is not the first time I have had to charge the battery.

For those of us who have fair weather few and far between drivers, the Yellow top Optima is the way to go, for that brand. It is designed to deep cycle (discharge, and recharge), or to be driven past the charging systems capacity for minutes at a time. Under-drive pullies also would fall in here...

For daily drivers with a normal stereo (or even an advanced system), the red-top is the way to go, more cold cranking ability.

There are other great batteries out there, Optima gets some bad rap, but no more than any other brand if you really do some research. The spiral and AGM battery style are innovative, but do require a special charger capable of charging an AGM. Also to note that just because you have a deep cycle battery does not need it will never need a charge, just that it is more likely to recover from deep discharging better.

Asking which brand of battery is the best is kind of like asking which brand of condom is the best, most will perform just fine, but even the best brand will fail you when you least want it to...

 

Optimas are rubbish - smaller capacity, more expensive, etc... If you want a VRLA AGM battery, get the Die hard Platinum / Enersys because you at least get the OEM capacity instead of the smaller/odd shaped Optima. The voids are wasted space with the spiral wounds.

Throw on a battery maintainer and your regular flooded-lead acid battery will survive the winters in storage. If you lived in the desert, a VRLA AGM is almost a must.

 

DieHard and Optomia are both manufactured by Johnson Controls.

Sources:

Johnson acquires Optima

Johnson providing DieHard